Food Literacy Center came to life in July 2011 to fill a critical gap: we engage volunteers, AmeriCorps members and staff to help individuals improve their knowledge, attitude, and behavior towards real food. Partnering with afterschool programs and libraries, we teach food literacy education to 1,000 (and growing!) K-6th graders in low-income schools a week, using fun, approachable lessons teaching kids to cook, about nutrition, and where their food comes from. Our kids become food adventurers! We work in after-school programs and libraries to accomplish this work.

Why our work matters:

Despite being America’s Farm-to-Fork Capital, Sacramento has a 40% childhood obesity rate, and many students and families live in food deserts.

Overweight kids have a 70-80% chance of staying overweight for their entire lives, and obesity disproportionately affects low-income and minority children.

Obesity is now regarded as more damaging than smoking or drinking.

Being overweight can negatively impact a child’s self-esteem, behavior, friendships, and academic performance.

All of these problems are preventable--if we eat our vegetables. But we have two generations of Americans who do not know how. That’s where we come in.

Our Leadership & Team

CEO & Chief Food Genius, Amber Stott, is joined by a stellar team of staff, AmeriCorps members, and community volunteers who make up the center’s board, volunteer committees, and support system. As a growing team, we’ve combined their creative ideas, expertise, and energy around food, health, and social change to be a catalyst for change in the community.

Program Recognition

Food Literacy Center holds a Slow Food Snail of Approval, the Green Apple Project Innovation Award from Sacramento City Unified School District, was named Innovator in early childhood health interventions two years in a row by the Department of Public Health, and passed a statewide resolution that declares the month of September as Food Literacy Month in the state of California.

We believe food literacy matters. Learn more about us at www.foodliteracycenter.org.

About this Peachy Position:

The Volunteer & Program Coordinator is a dynamic entry-level position whose priorities will be to ensure programs run smoothly and are of top quality, providing joyful experiences for both children and volunteers; and to ensure Food Literacy Center has a clear, strong and compelling external presence.

The Volunteer & Program Coordinator will assist with program logistics, AmeriCorps program record-keeping and reporting, and volunteer cultivation and coordination. The Coordinator will curate engaging content for Food Literacy Center’s volunteer biweekly email; provide organizational support, including event logistics, and other nonprofit administration tasks. The ideal candidate is a multidisciplinary Jack/Jill of all trades who has strong communication skills, strong organizational skills, the desire to be part of a nimble, results-oriented team, and a passion for inspiring kids to eat their vegetables.

The Volunteer & Program Coordinator will work closely with the program manager, marketing manager, AmeriCorps members, volunteers, and community partners. While this position will work closely day-to-day with AmeriCorps service members, this team will turn over annually due to the completion of service hours. This position will work to build close ties to staff. This role reports to the Program Manager.

Here’s what you’ll do as our Volunteer & Program Coordinator:

Ensure the health and sustainability of Food Literacy Center’s program by overseeing logistics, and managing program records and reporting.

Monitor timesheets and training records for accuracy and timeliness.

Coordinate training calendar and coordinate training logistics with community partners

Assign program specific tasks to AmeriCorps members to ensure all program needs are met (driving schedules, school schedules, cleaning tasks, inventory management, etc)

Assist Program Manager with data collection/analysis for purposes of reporting and telling a compelling story of our work.

Assist with logistics and community collaborations for Food Literacy Academy.

Become certified as a Food Genius

Serve as a bridge, building connections between AmeriCorps members and staff.

Recruit, train, and oversee volunteers for school programs, and outreach events.

Organized: Shows a strong ability to plan. Keeps accurate and timely records, and strives to meet and exceed program and organizational goals.

Achievement-orientation: Demonstrates an ability to meet and exceed goals and expectations. Lives up to the high standard the community expects of our nonprofit, showing attention to detail. Identifies problems and seeks to solve them quickly. Strategizes ideas for program improvement and communicates ideas effectively with supervisor.

Human-centered: Is ambidextrous in their ability to relate to varying personalities. Goes above and beyond to think through the details to create fantastic volunteer and donor experiences. Gains volunteer and donor trust and respect, and meets or exceeds their expectations.

Relationship Development & Communication: Externally, must be able to build new relationships while growing existing ones. Able to connect with almost anyone, find common ground, and create agency advocates through interactions. Additionally, exceptional at writing compelling on-brand communications. Internally, establish highly productive and positive working relationships with other staff and AmeriCorps members.

Are tech-savvy, a go getter, and comfortable toggling between functions and roles.

Ability to work well in a collaborative, team environment.

Have the ability to organize and prioritize assignments and tasks, as well as adapt and react quickly as projects evolve.

Have a Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Have an understanding or familiarity with local food, food systems, and nutrition

Extra points if you have:

Customer service or sales experience

Graphic design experience

Experience working in a small, entrepreneurial start-up team

Experience working with food literacy and/or AmeriCorps programs

Other Things to Know:

We offer a unique, vegetable-oriented work culture that celebrates teamwork, health, and vegetable eating.

The position pays $12-15/hour DOE and is a non-exempt position.

Given that we are a start-up nonprofit in growth mode, a flexible schedule is necessary. This position may require some nights and weekends

You’ll need to be able to lift 40 lbs

This position requires you to travel throughout Sacramento, so reliable transportation, a California driver's’ license, and proof of insurance are required

There is moderate local travel required in this position -- you’ll be traveling back and forth between offices and schools.

We love our veggies, so a vegetable costume may be worn on occasion

Because food literacy is at our core, we require all employees to successfully complete Food Literacy Academy certification

Additionally, you must pass a Department of Justice background check and have a negative TB test

Our Values & Behaviors

At Food Literacy Center...

We love our vegetables.

We work together as a team.

We seek and create clarity in ambiguity - we are building the future of Food Literacy Center.

We leave things better than we found them.

We sweat the details.

We over-communicate fearlessly--up, down, sideways

We are empathetic. We seek to understand before seeking to judge.

We understand the significance of our work to improve the health of children, our planet and our economy.

We actively engage in the program, creating & embracing mission moments. We enthusiastically share stories from these moments with our community.

We make an impact. We accomplish amazing amounts of important work.

We take strategic risks (that we measure along the way).

We are flexible and understand that in a growth organization we will encounter new challenges frequently. We are approachable and patient under stress.

We always have a plan.

We love our community volunteers and treat them as we do other members of our team. We recognize that we cannot do our work without volunteers! Our team consists of more than staff.

Ready to apply? Great! Check out next steps below.

Please submit a resume and thoughtful cover letter outlining the unique value you will bring to our Volunteer & Program Coordinator to amber@foodliteracycenter.org, subject: Volunteer & Program Coordinator - Last Name. This position will remain open until filled.

Food Literacy Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We encourage applicants of a diverse background to apply.